LANSING, MI – Nearly a
year after relaunching as a new company, MLive Media Group will open a new hub
in downtown Lansing, officials announced.

"We're excited about
our new MLive Media Group office in Lansing. Having a strong presence in our state
Capital is vitally important to the work we do for the people of our
state," said Dan Gaydou, President of MLive Media Group.

"Lansing is a strong,
vibrant part of the Michigan economy with its businesses playing a significant
role in manufacturing and service industries," he said. "Simply put, a complete report about our state
would be deficient without a visible and significant presence in this market."

The new hub will be
located at 108 S. Washington Square in a former Secretary of State office, just
two blocks from the state Capitol and Lansing City Hall.

"One of the key components
of MLive Media Group is community engagement, and that means being visible,
open and vibrant," said Sara Scott, community news director for MLive Media
Group's Lansing hub. "So it's important that we're centrally located in the
core of downtown Lansing."

The MLive Lansing hub will
be home to the statewide reporting team, which covers the state politics and
news, as well as the Lansing reporting team, which covers the city of Lansing
and its surrounding areas.

The Lansing community
coverage strategy is focused on high-interest topics, including local government,
public safety, business and the economy, Scott said. While breaking news is
important, MLive also takes its role as the 'government watchdog' very
seriously, she said.

"You're going to see
in-depth stories on important issues, and we'll be keeping a close eye on how
tax dollars are spent," Scott said.

Meegan Holland oversees the statewide news team in Lansing
and previously ran the Capitol bureau for Booth Newspapers, a chain of eight
Michigan newspapers that are now part of MLive Media Group.

"I'm personally and professionally thrilled, having run
Booth News Service for 17 years and watching it shrink in the new century," she
said. "People are vitally interested in state government coverage. ... So it's
significant that we've beefed up our staff and located our new hub just steps
from the Capitol."

Like other hubs opened in
MLive markets such as Grand Rapids, Flint and Kalamazoo, MLive's Lansing space
is designed to foster an open, collaborative and creative environment.

Unlike previous newsrooms,
there will be no assigned workspaces.

Reporters will work from
the hub, but also from other locations on their beat: City Hall, the state
Capitol, and the local courts.

"We believe a presence on
Washington Square provides us the best opportunity to be connected to the
community while providing quick access to state government every time the need
arises," Gaydou said. "We're proud to be on the job for the people of our State
while serving the residents and businesses of greater Lansing as well."

Mindy Biladeau, executive director
of Downtown Lansing Inc., which represents businesses downtown, said the
location for the new MLive hub makes perfect sense.

"A new tenant slated to
move into the former Secretary of State space is another example of how the redevelopment
and revitalization of our urban core is able to attract investment and jobs
from outside the local community," she said. "The new employees at the MLive Lansing
hub will add to the growing downtown Lansing employee base of over 34,000 and
have a positive impact on our local economy."

"This goes to show that downtown
has products that allow it to compete for tenants that did not exist five or
six years ago — that's the good news," she added.